Last Thursday at the Shrine (@theshrinechi) I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the lovely Elle Varner (@ellevarner). I must say that this woman can sing, a performer and is truly some eye candy. Her voice is raspy, silvery, smoky, but also hitting those high pitches that we love. I caught her doing a few sexy salsa moves on the stage. She opened with “Cold Case” from her sophomore album and performed her hit single “Refill”, “F#@$ It All”, “Don’t Really Want to Dance”, and also “I Only Want to Give it to You”. I loved how she mentioned that she “love folks that are weird, Chicago is weird, and that she’s weird”. I must say that many individuals have told me on many occasions that I’m weird, strange, quarky, and awkward. The moment that she was having issues with the sound, and talking to her guitar was priceless. I cherished that moment because it was relatively familiar in acts that I do.

Meeting Elle for the first time was nerve reckoning, I felt like I had a frog in my throat which seems to make me talk even lower. I’m pretty sure she probably heard maybe two or three words come from my mouth. Anyways, I painted a portrait of her, that I knew she would love However, if you look at the image closely. I had a few minor adjustments that needed to be done. While doing this painting everyone looked at it and said “Oh it looks great. It looks just like her”. I knew there were a few issues with this painting. Also this picture was captured and use as reference from her video “Don’t Really Want To Dance” featuring A$AP Ferg. Check it out…

Hello everyone, so I’ve been very occupied, and really trying to focus on participating in events. So I saw an artist call event on Craiglist (which is another great resource for artist) located in the artist community section. I clicked on the link and it directed me to a Special Event Management page. I began to read the description about the event and it directed me to another link. So finally, I was brought to a website called ZAPP®. This site basically enables you as an artist to apply to multiple events in your local area. There are no fees to sign up, it’s totally free. I thought this was an amazing resource. Especially for those artist looking for an event to sell, get exposure, and network amongst the hundreds or thousands of people. Of course to participate in these spectacular events you must pay a fee for a booth. Now, if there’s no indication in the description that you cannot share a booth. Call a fellow artist and share the booth by splitting the rental fee. There’s nothing like sharing. So check out the site, sign up, and give it a whirl.

I’ve been working on this particular piece and cannot seem to give it a name. I’ve been thinking about it, and my imagination seems to run wild every time I gaze at it. It has some comparison with another piece I created called”Rebelle Naturalle”. It’s almost as if it can tell a story between two sisters or a mother and daughter that shares the same religion, and similar occupation. The only difference would be the choice of lifestyle (hairstyle, fashion, values, and living). Then there’s an epic battle of natural hair versus chemically treated hair. Like the scene in School Days by Spike Lee (love that movie). I find it amazing how even one slight difference in APPEARANCE can cause a debate or even a distinction in a single culture. Anyway, give or lend me your thoughts in finding a name for this piece. To view some of my work go to www.soulfulartistry.com and click on paintings.